1. Field
The invention is in the field of flow control and pressure reducing, pressure relief and check valves for controlling the flow of fluid through the pipe by means of elastomeric flow control flat hat diaphragms.
2. State of the Art
The valves currently in use to control the flow of fluid through pipe lines and to reduce the pressure of fluid in pipe lines, use elastomeric diaphragms having the form of a bladder, which bladder may have the form of a truncated cone having a dead end on the narrow side of said cone and an open end on the opposite side. When the valve is opened fully, the truncated cone diaphragm produces the height of the stroke, which is typically equal to approximately the height of the diaphragm itself. The inventor used elastomeric diaphragms having the above mentioned form in the receptacles around the circular body of the valve in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,793 invented by the inventor.
The invented elastomeric diaphragm used in this invention has already been used in the invention by the inventor in a patent application Ser. No. 10/636,106 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,675 B1) under the name of Cage Valve, where the elastomeric diaphragm is fitted over a seat constructed in a rotatable tube receptacle. The Cage Valve can be fitted with only one or two elastomeric diaphragms, in two opposite receptacles constructed in a rotatable tube, and no more.
Thus the object of this invention is to enhance the capacity of the valve by increasing the number of elastomeric diaphragms placed in the outer receptacles constructed next to each other around the body of the valve having preferably polygonic geometry.
An other object of this invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing of the elastomeric diaphragms used in the radial cavities around a valve having outer circular or polygonic geometry as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,793.
An other purpose of this invention is to provide a fluidly balanced cover (lid) to cover the outer opening of the receptacle, without holding it down by means of bolts. This provides a reduction in valve size, and therefore of manufacturing cost, and also greatly enhances the ease of installation and replacement of the valve's diaphragm.